friend awarded money to pay landlord, she never paid, now it's in collections...

this is a NJ case

my friend (no longer) sued me after we both breached a lease. she wanted to get my half of the lease to pay the landlord. she was awarded the money and has yet to pay them, now it's in collections. can i sue her for fraud?

US Law Only!

this is a NJ case!

njf2481 said:

this is a NJ case!

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then you should have said so!!! you deleted the mandatory question.

1st: I am not an attorney or law professional
2nd: I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Have you tried contacting the collections department? Provide them (and the landlord) a copy of the court judgement and the cancelled check for the monetary award you had to pay. Inform them that you are no longer legally responsible for the debt and if they don't remove it and clear your credit report that you will sue the landlord. If your lucky it is in the same court/judge as the previous suit and you can present the information there.

Until the land lord's judgment is satisfied, both lessees are responsible. You were originally sued by your friend. Since the lease is still your joint responsibility you are both named.

You can file a response saying you were already assessed and paid the money. This is called res judica. Mention the case number and date it was heard.

OR, if in NJ an appearance is a response,

When you appear in court, point out to the Judge the case number and the outcome. If you have a copy of the decision even better. Also point out that you have paid (or are still making payments).

What you want, or need to do, is remove yourself from this case. That is the limit of what you can do. You have no cause to sue your ex friend.

You have no cause of action (a recognizable legal claim) against “her” for fraud.

By the same token, unless she had first paid more than her half of the rent, she had no legal claim against you to recover your “half of the lease to pay the landlord”.

Which makes me wonder about this business of her being “awarded the money” as being totally accurate. Why?

Because you are telling us that a court awarded her a judgment against you without her being able to prove to the court that she paid the landlord more than her half of the rent.

The mere fact that you both signed the lease and thus became jointly and severally liable to the landlord did not in itself give either of you the right to sue the other for any of that rent.

That right would only accrue if one tenant were compelled to pay more that their agreed share of the rent.

It’s called the right of contribution and is based upon the legal theory of subrogation. “Subrogation”, meaning the substitution of one person for the legal rights of another.

And the only way she could be subrogated/substituted to the legal rights of the landlord to collect rent from you would be if she had paid more than her half of that rent.

Otherwise, she had no legal claim against you that would support a lawsuit seeking a judgment against you.